Women Getting Paid Much Less Than Males: When Will it Stop?

Even the women who crashed the glass ceiling to get to get to the corporate boardroom don’t get equal pay.

A new report by NYC Mayor Bloomberg found that of the five best-paid executives in S&P 500 companies, only 198 (or 8%) were women. While women at the top earned an average $5.3 million each, that salary was 18% less than what their male counterparts pulled down.

If this is happening to wealthy elite women in the work world, then it’s definitely the case for women in lower level income jobs. Men are getting paid more than women across the board, and the question is “Is it fair?”

Women often begin their careers earning less and never catch up, experts say. “The same performance is evaluated less highly and compensated less highly if there is a woman’s name attached to it.”said Connie Gersick, visiting scholar at Yale University. The report noted that Denise Morrison, CEO of Campbell Soup Co., received $8.76 million last year– 24% less than CEOs earned at similar companies.

“Lots of people have the sense that all these CEOs tend to get paid too much,” said David Ross a professor at Columbia Business School.

“But this issue is all across the white collar workforce and not limited to the executive suite: Women are pervasively underpaid,”Ross Said

When will this stop? Ladies we might need to have another Suffrage Movement!